Max Verstappen will get his first taste of an F1 race weekend at this year’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, after Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost confirmed that the Dutch youngster will enjoy three practice run-outs at the end of the season.

The team confirmed this week that Verstappen, 16, will become the youngest ever F1 driver next season, joining the team in a full-time race seat alongside Daniil Kvyat. This has left Jean-Eric Vergne out in the cold for 2015.

In order to give him some track time, Verstappen will be taking part in practice for the races in the USA, Brazil and Abu Dhabi at the end of the year. He will complete some external running in a 2011 car to gain his FIA superlicense in the meantime, as permitted by the regulations.

“In a few weeks we want to do a test with him, just to give him a feeling, with a two-year-old car,” Tost explained on Thursday at Spa. “We want to give him as much time and mileage as possible in a Formula 1 car.

“We expect a Friday session at least from Austin onwards. So Austin, Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi. Then he will do one test day after Abu Dhabi.”

Verstappen’s manager also confirmed the plans in a statement on the driver’s website.

“Together with Franz Tost, we’ve discussed how we can optimize Max’ preparation for his debut season in Formula 1,” Raymond Vermeulen said. “Initially, he will test a lot with a Formula Renault 3.5-racer. Furthermore, he’ll drive a two-year-old Toro Rosso.”

Verstappen’s promotion to an F1 drive at such a young age has caused a stir in the paddock, with many claiming that he is too young to be racing. Sauber’s Adrian Sutil called it a “risky move”, but, like most of the other drivers, saw no problem racing against him so long as he had the experience.

These practice run-outs should give Verstappen a leg-up ahead of his F1 debut next March, as well as giving us a chance to see this talented youngster in action.